'I grew up on the Coniston estate - now I am taking the hotel back to the way it used to be'

Roddy is the third generation of Bannister to run the much-loved Yorkshire hotel.

His grandfather Michael, now aged 93, still makes his presence known around the hotel and the wider estate where he has a stunning country house.

Roddy’s father Nick who ran the hotel for the last 11 years will continue to manage the estate with its clay pigeon shooting, fishing and buggy riding.

Roddy is the youngest of three brothers and his appointment as Managing Director will hopefully bring to and end a period of uncertainty and turmoil for the hotel which had been put up for sale earlier this year – something Roddy just could not envisage as the hotel and estate mean much more than just business to the 26-year-old financier.

"Growing up here was fantastic,” he says. “We had lots of dogs and horses – my eldest brother Harry is a professional jump jockey and Archie is in London and has just had his first baby – we spent our entire time tearing around the estate on ponies pretending to be jockeys – I was the most useless jockey in the world.”

At the age of seven he went to boarding school down south, his mother lived in London after his parents divorced.

“We had the best of both worlds. We spent time in London which I also loved, but would then spend holiday and some weekends up here and I’d spend my time fishing in the river on the estate.”

He embarked on a career in financial services in York and then Newcastle before taking a job with insurance brokers Howdens in their wealth management team.

“I was working for them in London for six months before moving to Harrogate, but it was during that time last year that dad sat me down and told me he was having to sell business. I was devastated.

"I just couldn’t imagine it no longer being in the family and what that would mean in particular to my grandfather who still lives on the estate.”

Roddy set about making some calls and using his knowledge and contacts within the finance world to work out a way of keeping the hotel and spa in the family, but time was against him as a buyer had already come forward for the hotel.

“I knew it was a good solid business but we knew it needed restructuring to make it profitable again. We came up with a plan and took that to the board and the shareholders and explained that it would entail a major overhaul of what we had been doing here including a change n the board of directors – we couldn’t continue doing things in the same way.

"They agreed but we knew that it was still unlikely due to the tight timescale we were working against.”

But the pipe dream became a reality just a few weeks ago.

Now Roddy has a tricky juggling act ahead of him as he takes over from his own father Nick, who came back to Yorkshire from London to run the Coniston after the death of his brother Tom in a car crash in 2013.

“There were some very difficult conversations,” he admits, “but I think it was made easier for me as the other alternative was the sale out of the family and the ramifications that would have had.

"My father has been very supportive and has very much taken on the mantle that it is easier to go with the changes than fight against them and he's been very supportive.”

He may not have any hands on hotel experience, but it is clear that the Coniston and the wider estate is in his blood and he is not afraid of asking other more experienced members of the Bannister family for their help and advice as he aims to steady the ship and take the hotel forward – while looking to the past for inspiration.

“I’d always wanted to be involved in the business and I felt very strongly that this place had to have a very clear idea of what it wanted to be and put the customer at the heart of everything done here and it had lost sight of that,” says Roddy, as he looks out of the hotel restaurant’s massive picture window over the stunning grounds and lake beyond.

"We should be championing all this – the Yorkshire Dales, local produce and seasons. Doing what we do well and not spending so much time looking at what everyone else was doing and trying to keep up and trying too hard to be something we aren’t.

“I am very passionate about the business and that it should be a success as it has everything going for it from a fantastic spa, 70 bedrooms, a huge wedding venue and 1,000 acres of grounds with four by fours and shooting on its doorstep – other places would kill to have that we need to capitalise on that incredible ecosystem we have here.

"Having fantastic produce from the estate from raw milk that our chef can make butter and cheese from to incredible lamb and pork, amazing beef, chicken and eggs -we have all of that here and we should be championing it.

"When I was little The Coniston was very much a pillar of the Yorkshire Dales community – everyone held their weddings, funerals, anniversaries and 21sts here – what we did best was honest genuine hospitality and I want to get bac to that again.”

Roddy has plans to relaunch the hotel’s Lake View Restaurant, he has already introduced a new menu “not a foam of gel in sight, just good honest simple fresh food”, and a second pub-style bar serving pub classics like fish and chips.

“It’s about bringing back where we started.” The Coniston started as a farm shop opened by Roddy’s grandmother and his uncle, smoking and selling fish caught on the estate.

"They then opened a tea room which got bigger, and then a restaurant before adding some rooms – before it grew exponentially into what it is today. We’ve got to let that lead us.

"We don’t need to come up with a new concept, we just need to go back to what we really are about.

"I know we haven’t always delivered in recent years and we are happy to hold our hands up and say things weren’t always good enough but we really want that to change.”

The renewed vision for The Coniston will focus on celebrating its identity as a working Yorkshire estate, with a continued emphasis on seasonal food, authentic hospitality and estate-led experiences that connect guests to the surrounding landscape.

For example people who catch a fish on the estate can swap it for a pint in the pub and locals with allotments are encouraged to bring in their produce and the chef will work to out it on the menu.

He plans to work closely with the offering on the wider estate and offer packages that include a stay at the hotel, access to the spa, fishing, shooting and buggy driving as well as a new Land Rover experience.

“This place is my home in every sense. There isn’t anywhere that offers quite what The Coniston does, and I’m incredibly proud to now lead the estate into its next chapter. I’m enormously grateful to my father, grandfather and wider family for the support and opportunity ahead.”

theconistonhotel.com